Prophecies of doom have been ringing in the ears of indie fans for years now: the festival is an endangered species. With T in the Park struggling to secure a suitable venue, the same faces headlining the same festivals and a disheartening lack of women and diverse representation at the summit of the art form, now is not the best time to catch the festival bug, we are repeatedly told.
But look beyond the ï¬elds of Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and there is so much about which to be hopeful. Y Not Festival, a mediumsized event taking place in the depths of Derbyshire, has booked Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds as one of its three headliners this July. To contextualise this, Y Not started 10 years ago as a house party, and last year Noel Gallagher headlined Latitude. Clearly, larger acts are being drawn to the intimate allure of smaller festivals, catering to a more concentrated, yet dedicated audience.
Y Not is just one of a proliferation of smaller festivals competing with the established names. Tramlines, a cheaper festival, sees every venue in Sheffield become an arena in addition to a specially-constructed main stage, providing a showcase for both up-and-comers and veterans. While their 2016 headliners Catï¬sh and the Bottlemen and Dizzee Rascal are hardly A-game stars, they will certainly help to accentuate the unique atmosphere of a cheaply-run festival.
Looking to the south, Boomtown Festival sees an entire city, replete with ï¬ctional history and political turmoil, constructed as one big party venue, attracting the best of the UK’s underground music, showing that invention and risk-taking are still alive and well in a largely sanitised artistic culture.
That’s saying nothing of those ‘unimaginative’ big-name festivals which are starting to ï¬nally push the boat out: Reading and Leeds have announced Foals as a headliner for 2016 whilst Bestival have turned to Major Lazer who, as well as guaranteeing one hell of a night, also feature two members from a Caribbean and an African-American background respectively. Festivals may have gone through a rough patch recently, but the dearth of talent is symptomatic of broader problems in the music industry. It is not the fault of festival organisers, who are in fact working hard to address their shortcomings. There’s much to look forward to in 2016: in the north and south; on scales both large and, most excitingly, small.
